National Parks Senior Pass

Sunday July 29, 2012

Are you at least 62 years old?   Have you gotten your Senior Pass yet?

One of the perks of getting older is this $10 Lifetime Free Pass to all of our National Parks and National Forests.  It entitles you to get into any National Park or Forest in the country as many times as you want for free.  It doesn't get better then this! 

If you are a camper, it reduces the cost of every campsite by 50%!  We have spent many nights for only $10.00 for the night.  Our least expensive campsite has been $5.50!

If you have not yet reached the 'golden years', you can got other passes as well.

Check out the National Park Service for more details.

Going-to-the-Sun Road

Thursday July 26, 2012

I never get tired of this ride!  This road has to be one of the most spectacular in the country!  Going-to-the-Sun Road is the only road through the heart of Glacier National Park in Montana, USA. It was completed in 1932, and it is the only road that crosses the park, going over the Continental Divide at Logan Pass.  The mountain views keep me in awe with every corner we ride!

We make our sunset cruise one evening after dinner and are not disappointed.  We start from our campground at Avalanche Campground and drive up to Logan Pass.  Logan Pass is the highest point  on the Going-to-the-Sun Road located along the Continental Divide in Glacier National Park. It's evening, so the crowd of sightseers are gone.  The highway crews who are repairing the roads are put away for the night and it's clear sailing for us.

The road is windy and hugs the jutting rocks on one side.  The side by the 'fall aways' are made like the rock walls lining Acadia National Park in Maine.  Not sure if they would prevent you from falling over the edge but they are pretty! 





We are treated to seeing a deer up close as well as a long horned sheep and mountain goat.  Not a lot of wildlife, but enough to know you are around Mother Nature and she is spectacular!

Going-to-the-Sun Road, as well as the entire Glacier National Park should be on every one's Bucket List!  Whether you see it while camping, touring, or hoteling does not matter.  We are blessed to have one of the most spectacular areas in our country and you are truly missing it if you do not come see this!  The trip is more then worth the effort!



Heading Back to Glacier National Park

Tuesday July 24, 2012

After two days, I want to move on.  This disappoints Ed.  I just feel really isolated here.  I didn't take the trek on the dirt road into town for any of the services since it was a little scarey.  If I ever had a flat tire, I was toast.  No people, no cell phone, nothing.  Every once in awhile I get skittish about where I go alone, and unfortunately, this was one of those times.  And I was out of reading material on my Kindle!

We reluctantly pack up and head back to Glacier--the West side this time.  West Glacier, MT (right at the entrance to Glacier National Park) seems to have everything I need so I think I will be fine here.  We try Fish Creek Campground first, since that is the first one you come to on the Going to the Highway road, but it is not available for 5 nights (they take reservations which we did not know.) 

Then we move on to Apgar camground and this seems really too busy and congested.  It reminded me of Yosemite. There was like a little city right before the campground with restaurants, shops and hoards of people.  Not for us.

We decided to go another 16 miles or so to Avalanche Campgroud--the farthist you can drive with a camper on Going To The Sun Road.  We got there by about 11 am but there are surprisingly few campsites open.  We drove around and found one that with a little jockying Ed could get into and set up.

Now this campsite is more like apartment living then a honeymoon suite for sure! You can look over and see your neighbor.  A true disappointment after the Honeymoon suite, but I know I can get to laundry, shopping and internet in a half hour on well traveled roads.

I can live with this for however long.  And I would imagine the hiking here must be good. The bad part for Monty is that we are back in the National Park again and he can't go hike with Ed.  He has to hang out with me.  As Ed leaves in the morning he looks a little sad and truth be told, resigned to a quiet day.  Luckily he still gets up at 6 am and Ed plays ball and frisbee to tire him out a little

Tally Lake Campground (north of Whitefish, MT)

Sunday July 22, 2012

We decide to leave Hungry Horse on Sunday.  The campground had actually filled up during the week and now all 5 sites are taken.

One of the other campers came by on Saturday night asking when we were leaving and decided to put their lawn chair in our camp spot to stake it out so no one else took it before they did.  Very smart.

We decide to head toward Kalispell and Whitefish.  I hadn't really heard which campground was our goal, but was pleased with the direction.  We had spent some time in Kalispell one winter with Tom and Louise. It seems like a really nice little town.

As we kept driving, however, I realized we were going THRU those towns, not staying in them.  I guess they were too crowded for us.  We head for Tally Lake.  Tally Lake is a scenic, clear, low elevation mountain lake north west of Whitefish. Tally Lake is quite large at more than 1350 acres. Although it is not a huge lake, Tally Lake has the distinction of being the deepest natural lake in Montana, with a depth of 492 feet. And they have a Campground.  It doesn't look too far on the map.  I could probably drive into either of those towns for Internet.

As you may realize, maps can be deceiving.  That 'not too far on the map' is actually about 5 miles north of Whitefish and then 18 miles on undeveloped road.

We get there pretty early but apparently most campers don't leave here until 2 pm.  The host suggests we take a look at site 34--the Honeymoon Suite it's called.  As we drove by, he was right.  This was the primo spot of the campground!  It was by itself and it had it's own little beach.  Monty could run along without a leash and would be thrilled.

We put dibs on it and had to wait till 3 pm for the current campers to vacate. 

Our Honeymoon Suite view!

Apparently they are from Kalispell and said this spot was the worst kept secret around.  They just didn't want to leave.  We spent the time hanging out at the boat dock.  The lake was packed with all kinds of boats:  motor, kayak, pontoon, paddle boards etc.  It was like Cochituate State Park in Natick, MA,  on a Sunny August day!  And it was hot!

We decide to put in for 2 nights and see what happens.  The spot can't be beat.  It's the best we probably will have this summer.

Books I've Read This Summer

A friend reminded me recently that I had not mentioned reading any books this summer.  For some reason, last year I was able to use my Amazon account and post my experience easily thru Facebook.  For some reason, it does not work like that this year.  So, anyway, here are my books so far:

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein  --  my favorite by far!  Jane you have to read this!

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult  --  Good but disturbing

Defending Jacob by William Landay --  Good; easy read

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain  --  Interesting

Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin  -- Didn't care for this; simplistic writing; maybe it was translated poorly

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton  --  Very Good

Wild by Cheryl Strayed  --  Very, Very Good

The House of Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe --  Fair; I'm not into mysticism

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson  --  Pretty clear portrait of a complex man

Chill Factor by Sandra Brown  --  Good beach read

She also mentioned I had not written about scores for our games.  They are:

                 Gin Rummy:  Ed 10  Nancy 5
                 Scrabble   Ed 2  Nancy 0

Now you know why I haven't mentioned them!  Doesn't look like this is my trophy summer, does it?

Hungry Horse, MT

July 17 thru July 22  Lost Johnny Campground

Our campsite in Hungry Horse, MT

Once I got over being afraid of being the dinner for the bears while we were here, I really liked this spot.  We had deer come thru a couple of afternoons and the lake was beautiful.  Certainly one of the best spots we have had so far this summer.

Lake view

The town of Hungry Horse was named after two draft horses used for logging the area. They wandered off during the severe winter of 1900. The horses, Tex and Jerry, were found a month later, all scraggly and hungry but very much alive.

Today the town itself has a population of 900 and is a small community that is likely to be overlooked as visitors make their way onward to Glacier National Park, which lies just 10 miles to the east. 

The town is about 10 miles from our campsite and there is a post office, laundry, grocery store, Internet and a couple restaurants.  So it has everything I need:)

In town, the big deal is Huckleberries!  Huckleberries are sold in all shapes and sizes:  Huckleberry Taffy, ice cream (yummy), pies, syrup, body lotions, etc.! If you want to have some shipped to you, try the web site of this local store, The Huckleberry Patch.

We take a couple sunset cruises but don't see any wildlife at all.  It seems strange because we really are out in the boonies!  There are a couple more campgrounds along the way, but we certainly had the best spot by far.

The day before we left, Ed caught a Trout in the morning so he grilled it up and we had it for a mid morning snack.  Delicious!  I could eat those all summer.

List Maker meet Mr. Spontaneity!

Wednesday July 18, 2012

I'm a list maker.  I make a list of the lists I want to make.  I like to know what is going to happen before it happens.  When we're home, on Sundays I like to take a look at the week ahead to see where I will be, what I'm going to be doing and what I have to do to get ready for any of that.  Apparently, I am married to a very spontaneous person, however!

Now we start talking about our summer plans the December before it happens.  A full 6 to 7 months ahead.  Where do we want to go etc. This meshes nicely with the list maker in me.  Ed then takes it from there and plans the route.  On some rainy days I'll sit in our loft with him while he's planning and he'll tell me what he's sketching out.  Up until this summer, he has mapped out a very specific plan for our summer adventures.  Many places would take reservations so we were able to know this week we'll go here, then move to such and such a place for 5 days etc. This year, however, since our goal was to spend the summer in Montana, Ed decided not to do that.  In fairness, 99% of the places don't take reservations. If you want to get a good site, you just have to get to a campground on a good day and early in the day.

Now, I wasn't really keen on this, but since they don't take reservations and there are dozens of campgrounds all over the place, it seemed that it might be okay.  The plan is to move on a Monday or Tuesday and get to a new place before noon.

This apparently pleases Ed.  Now I know Ed doesn't like lists.  In fact, if there is a list made, he will ignore it.  He HATES lists!

That's our yin and yang.  What I didn't realize is that he is an apparently a VERY spontaneous person.  We've been married 43 years and I'm just learning this??

On Monday, while Ed was out hiking, I decided to take a look at our mapping program to see where we were moving to today. 

We have 2 mapping programs. We have used the Microsoft Streets and Trips to plan our itinerary for the first ten years.  This year, since Ed got a new DeLorme GPS to take on hikes, he decided to get a new mapping program since the GPS is not quite compatible with the Streets and Trips program.  I checked both programs, however, to see where we're going.  They each say different places...now I have no clue where I will be laying down my head tomorrow night and that makes me feel very unsettled.  I have no problem living in a tin can for 70+ days, but I really want to know ahead of time WHERE that tin can will be parked!

Ed gets back from his hike and I ask where we're heading.  "Well, we have a few options."  Not the kind of answer I was looking for. He's all excited showing me "we can stop here, or here, and there are 3 more on this side of the reservoir."  It's making me stressed.  I thought all the planning was done, why are we still 'deciding' the night before we travel.  STRESS!  I'm trying to be good and not freak out.  I'm along for the ride.  I can do this.

No I can't.  I'm going to bed and will let Ed finish the planning.

It rains about 5 am so everything will be wet to pack up.  I've packed most of the inside stuff already, so my part of the packing can be finished in 20 minutes or so.  It stopped raining after an hour or so, so at least we won't be packing up IN the rain.  The outside stuff will just be wet.

Fog lifting as we leave Two Medicine

So as we get in the car, I ask Ed, "So where are we heading today?"  His answer:  "That depends"  UGGGH.  "We have choices" he says happily.
I look at the map, and there is a campground he never even mentioned last night.  Aah...spontaneity.  Nope.  I'm definitely not a spontaneous person!

We take off from Glacier National Park--near East Glacier, MT--and head past the town of West Glacier toward Hungry Horse and Columbia. 

We've never been this way before.  This part of Rt 2 is really a beautiful 2 lane road that meanders next to fast moving rivers and still with fantastic snow tipped mountain views.  Looks like Vermont or New Hampshire driving. There is no traffic to speak of. It's a really nice ride. Speed limit is 70 mph which seems high for a 2 lane road, but since there is little traffic, it's not a problem.

We get into Hungry Horse (I love that name) and it seems like a nice little town.  There are a couple gift type shops, a couple restaurants, a Laundromat, grocery store and post office.  They even have Internet!  Where we are heading to in the Flatlands National Forest is about 9 miles or so off the road.  I can do this.

We grab a bite to eat and head in on the West side of the Hungry Horse Reservoir to pick out a campground.  The 9 miles or so turns out to be on a well paved, really windy road along the side of a mountain without guardrails.  This might be a little more of a challenge for me after all.  I am somewhat challenged by heights!

The day gets to be overcast and it looks like it's going to rain.  I nix the first  campground we get to, and we move along to the next one.  It's called Lost Johnny.  The campground only has 5 sites on it and none of them are occupied.  I'm not feeling real good about this place.  But site 5 is open and it is RIGHT on the water.  Ed is sold, so I really have no choice.  We're staying.  I still suggest we can go down the road to look at something else and surely no one else is coming along today to take this site from us, but Ed vetoes that.  He's really keen on this and Monty seems to like the smells around here too.

We start to set up, but it starts to rain hard so we decide to wait in the car until it lets up.  Wouldn't you know, another truck with a long 5th wheel attached comes along and parks in the lot right across from us and sits there.  Then a woman comes along on an ATV vehicle and has her fist waving.  She is clearly upset.  Ed gets out to see whats up.  They were at another campground and have been waiting for THIS site to open.  It opened just this morning so they were moving right in.  Whoops.  Too late.

Ed was right.  We would have lost the spot!  Looks like we'll be the only restaurant in town for the local bears!  Not sure how long we're here for.  We'll see how the hiking and fishing are.

Two Medicine Campground, East Glacier, MT

Tuesday July 17, 2012
We're on our last day here at Two Medicine.  It's been a good week although I'm ready to move on.  Any time there are no grocery stores within 25 miles and  I have to drive for a half hour for intermittent Internet, I'm ready after about 5 days for a new spot. There are tons of mountains to climb for Ed so he's happy.  Since his body feels good hiking, this is a good summer!

It rained the last 2 days, though and has been pretty damp and raw.  Glad the sun came out today!  I love the clear blue skies and puffy clouds.  Ed hasn't told me yet where we're heading next, so I guess it will be a surprise:)

Speaking of surprises, here's a picture of what showed up the other day near our campsite:

Bear in campground across from us in broad daylight!

This is definitely bear country.  There are bear boxes for your food at many of the sights and the Rangers are always coming around to remind everyone to put things away when we are not using them.  Once a bear gets into a campers cooler, they are killed since they then become too dangerous to people, so the rangers are very concerned.

Everything free comes with a cost!

Tuesday July 9, 2012

Yes, this park is very pretty and I really did get less concerned the longer we sat there.  I'm not sure how the neighborhood houses handle having transients drop by this park all the time, but it's very quiet.

I went to bed about 9:30.  It was still light out and Ed stayed up reading.  A good night sleep was expected before we head to Glacier National Park in the morning.

Alas, it's not to be.  I probably haven't mentioned the fact that we have seen tons of trains pulling dozens of freight cars each day in North Dakota and Montana. They aren't seen much on Cape Cod (!), but I guess transportation of goods by train is pretty standard still in the west.

We discovered that this Park is within a block of the railroad tracks and since they apparently transport more during the night then during the day, the train whistles blew at least 8 times during the night.  Even my ear plugs didn't help keep out this noise. So even though the space was free for the night...sleep was not!

Monty makes his usual wake up call at 5:30 am.  We are packed and leave our site by 8 am. The drive to Glacier National Park--East wing--seems to be a straight shot on US 2.  It's really amazing how from the middle of Minnesota to the Rockies in Montana the land is totally flat as far as the eye can see. 

In fact, as we travel, we see a HUGH field of Wind Mills in Cut Bank, MT! They really are majestic looking.  Then all of a sudden, after passing Cut Bank, Montana,
you can see the mountains pop up!  There is still snow on those mountains and the thermometer on the car indicates it's above 90 degrees.  It will feel good to
be in cooler weather! 

The heat is a killer for me--actually for both of us.  Neither of us like it which is why
we don't travel in the South during the summer.  Could that be worse then this heat has been?

Well, we're finally here!  This is one of the major destinations Ed & I had on our wish list for this summer!  Glacier National Park can't be beat!

Lake at Two Medicine looking at Glacier National Park

After having traveled so much flat lands, these peaks are even more beautiful then I remember them.  And, there is still snow on some of the mountains!  Ed promises me that it won't be nearly as hot here as it has been so far on this trip!

Two Medicine Campground--Site 15

We arrive at Two Medicine Campground before noon so we should get a good spot.  Surprisingly, though, most of the primo spots (i.e. water or mountain peak views) are taken.  We pick out one of the largest spots we find and settle in for a week.  I prefer that even to the smaller spots with good views.

We had stopped at an Albertson's Grocery store to get some provisions for at least a week.  Glad we did!  This is in Indian country and there are NO stores around for many, many miles.  Ice is about all we'll get at the camp store.

There is no internet or cell service here.  I may take a long ride back to Cut Bank in a few days, but if not, we'll probably be here until Tuesday July 17, 2012.

Best Laid Plans!!

Monday July 8, 2012

Boy were we glad to end that adventure!  We spent the night at Downstream--Fort Peck campground.  We had electricity and the site cost $8.00 with the Senior Pass.
We kept the camper attached to the truck since we were only spending the night...and
there is no place around anywhere to go out to dinner!  We set up and relax for the afternoon.  They have showers which feel wonderful!  Too bad there isn't a shower for our truck and camper.  They are both coated in muck!

We decide to have cheese and crackers for dinner and play a game of scrabble.  I was ahead for awhile but as usual...Ed wins.

Monty met a dog next to us at the campsite and had happy feet running around with her.  It was like seeing him with his friend Toby.  He misses having that fun play time, but boy is he being good on this trip!

Tuesday July 9, 2012

We head out early with the expectation of one more  overnight stay before hitting Two Medicine campground in Glacier National Park in Montana.  There are not a lot of options halfway to there following Rt 2 (no more dirt roads for us! We've made a change in the map program to try to avoid another yesterday!).  It's Fresno Tailwater FAS (which we don't know what that means...but it looks like it's on a reservoir).  It's right off Rt 2 near the town of Havre, MT.  We even found a WalMart near there to get a few essentials.

When we arrive, it appears it is a free campground, on a pebble type driveway.  You get what you pay for!  There are no trees but there are about 10 campers already lined up like a parking lot, all with AC and generators.  Not our style, so we decide to forge ahead.

The mapping program does not have a lot of choices for campgrounds of any type between Havre and Glacier.  There is an interesting one listed about an hour or so away called Chester City Park.  So that's where we head.



City Park in Chester, MT.

It's easy to find.  When we get there...that's what we find.  A city park.  there was a flush bathroom facility, a covered area with lots of picnic tables, a three stall garage with more picnic tables (in case it rains?), a beautiful little garden maintained by the Chester Garden Club. There was someone there cleaning the bathrooms and he assured us, yes, you can camp here.  I was a little apprehensive.  We were the only campers.  It's free.  Leave a donation if you'd like.  I'm still reticent.  But like Ed said, this is better then the one we almost stayed at...at least there are no campers with generators near us!.

The temperature is in the 90's.  We do our minimal set up and have lunch since we were able to find a decent grocery story on the way.

Monty loves the expanse of grass.  I put out a blanket for him to lay on, and instead, he gathers it up into a ball and carries it to the shade of a big tree and settles in.  I think he likes it here.  We read under the trees for awhile, Ed goes for a short bike ride in the downtown area and I try to take a nap...didn't work.  It's too hot.  I have finished reading Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. It was a fiction.  Great book, Kathy, thanks for the suggestion!

Now I certainly would not have decided to stop here on my own, but the longer we sat here, the more it felt good.

There was even another camper that came along on his bike.  He's originally from Vermont and is making a cross country bike ride from Washington State to
....He travels about 60 miles each day.  There are crazier people out there then us!

We are off tomorrow to Two Medicine Campground off of route 2 near East Glacier, MT.

It Doesn't Get Scarier Then This!!!!!

Sunday July 7, 2012

Happy Birthday, Jean!

We left Theodore Roosevelt National Park at 8 am this morning.  We are getting good at packing up our gear. Like a well oiled machine.  We originally planned to stop
at Makoshika State Park but since it's only an hour and a half away, I convinced Ed to go there on the way home instead.  We still have about 13 hours of driving before we reach Two Medicine Campground at Glacier National Park.  This is one of our main stops. Glacier is really beautiful!

About 10am or so we stop for breakfast at CC's Family Cafe.  Great breakfast.  We seem to find great local diners along the way.

We travel on Rt 94 for awhile and turn onto Route 200.  Two lane quiet road.  Maybe it's quiet because it's Sunday morning and everyone is at church.

This part of Montana is sparsely populated.  Lots of farms with hay or something growing.  Well spaced ranches with lots of cattle.  Pretty flat, too.
We have 2 GPS's.  One on the car and one that Ed uses for hiking and with our Trip program in the computer.  Sometimes, however, they conflict with how to get where we are going.  Today, however,  they seem to be sending us the same way---but it's on a dirt road for what it says is 12 miles. Ed's map is calling it Highway 252.  That liberty with the word Highway! Sure is an adventure!

We've been on here awhile.  I think we are beyond the word adventure for this part of the trip.  Now we have been on 16 miles of a one lane dirt road.  Ed is freaking out.  I'm trying to make lite of it and he's thinking about broken axles and not being able to turn around.

After awhile more, we come across 30 or 40 head of cattle...right in the middle of this dirt road wondering what the hell we are!  I think it's funny.  Ed does not see the humor in it.

We've gone another 5 miles or so and I am afraid I am joining Ed on freaking out.  The road is getting more narrow and the ruts in the road are deeper.  I don't know what we're going to do if we hit a patch we get stuck in.  We don't have a shovel.

We went another mile, went to a dip in the roadway with lots of divots.  They weren't all solid at that point but we didn't realize it.  Ed plowed through...or tried to, anyway.  You guessed it.  The tires got stuck in almost a foot of muck....and it didn't smell good either.  We were definitely in a pickle.

We got out and Ed assessed things.  Then he tried to back up as far as he could but by then the camper was making a sharp turn so we had to stop. We had to take the camper off the truck, use 4W & 4L back and forth to move the truck beyond the muddy holes we made.  The problem now is the camper is on one side of this muck and the truck is on the other.

Now we had to move the camper to face forward so we can try to reattach it to the truck. Given the weight of the tongue of the camper, that's not as easy as it sounds!  Ed got the wheel on the tong of the camper and tried to move it.  No go.  Then we put a line of boards to one side of the wheel and he was able to push it along as I kept moving the boards. Once it was forward facing again, he had to find a drier side of the road to back the truck up to it.

I have never been so scared in my life.  This was far more then an adventure.  Ed was right to be freaking out.  Once we were out of the mud, we still had 5 miles or so to go on this path with no idea if we were going to come across another problem.  I'd like to tell you what town we were near during this adventure, but there are no town names on the map.  There are no houses ANYWHERE to be seen.

Thank God!!!  I think I have found religion!! We made it out to State Hwy 24.  Now we need to travel another 30 miles or so to get to Fort Peck to camp.  It's completely devoid of any signs of life.  There are high tension wires along the ridge and wire fencing on either side of the road but NOTHING else.  If we had gotten stuck a little more in that muck, I have no clue how we would have gotten out of there. It would have been at least 35 miles to go to get help! Walk???  Take the bike and leave back at the truck in the middle of no where???  And would AAA even consider coming out to get us??? Scary to even think about!

And by the way...there certainly was no cell service!

I'm ready to stop for the day and it's only 12:30!

Off to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Medora, ND

Monday July 2, 2012 till Sunday July 8, 2012

Scenic View of Teddy Roosevelt National Park

We are at the South Unit of the Teddy Roosevelt National Park.  We've been here before and really like it.  We came on Monday and plan to stay probably till Sunday.  We are pretty tired of driving all day and not enjoying the country!  The colorful Little Missouri Badlands are the scenic backdrop to this park.  From the entrance, you drive up a 5 mile windy, steep hill to get to the campground itself.  This was the campground where a herd of Bison met us last time we were here!  Beyond the campground there are still dozens of miles to explore the beautiful country along with Bison, Deer and wild horses.

We arrive by 10:30 am so that we can get a good campsite since we are planning to stay awhile and we do.  We set up camp, take out all our goodies and have a cold drink.  It's really hot here today!  Once we were settled, I went into the town of Medora to get our groceries for the week.  Unfortunately, we forgot there is no grocery store in town--or for 30 miles in either direction either.  We are at the mercy of the towns only Convenience store.  Not much to pick from and VERY expensive! A disappointment.

Prairie Dogs

We have an early dinner and take our first drive along the scenic route tonight. We're rewarded with buffalo, prairie dogs, and a momma deer and 2 fawns.  Neat.  Temp is down to 95 degrees.

Tuesday July 3, 2012.  Happy 18th Birthday, Brooksie!  It's a big one!

I heard on the radio today that a cold front is coming in and they are expecting rain with high winds...I don't know where they are talking about, though.  I'm in Medena but no one is saying where the radio station is from.  I don't even know what time it is..Are we in Mountain time or Central time zones?  I could be an earlier hour then I expect:) Does it matter when you're camping for 74 days?

North Dakota is really beautiful.  The landscape is really 'bumpy' which is why they must call it the badlands.  Each of the 'bumps' is multi colored...orange, blue, beige, green..etc...Ed says they were formed by the volcanos that formed the Rockies.  Amazing.

Wednesday July 4.  Happy Fourth of July!!

It's 7:45 pm on our sunset cruise in the Badlands and Ed is looking at the clouds.  It is still 95 degrees but Ed says we need to 'batten down the hatches'.  Maybe those weather reports were for our area after all!

It is 8:52 and we are still cruising.  The sun seems high in the sky and it is now 100 degrees!

Friday July 6, 2012.  Well, the rain missed us on Wednesday night but got us good last night!  The ranger even stopped by the campsite last night to advise us that the forecast predicted between 1 and 2 inches of rain.  No problem!  We buttoned up, played cards and went to bed to the patter of rain.  It almost feels cozy to me when it rains (one day only!) while we are camping.  It was loud, though, and Monty wasen't sure he liked the noise so he came to sleep with us sometime during the night.  By the morning, the rain was gone and there weren't even many puddles.

Flag Lowering Ceremony

Ed took a long hike at the Petrified Forest  while I read and did some Genealogy.  After soaking his feet for awhile, we decided to go to town to have dinner and get Internet.  While here we took in the daily lowering of the flags in Medera

Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, Marden, ND

Sunday July 1, 2012

We start at 7 am and basically take Route 94 for a few hundred miles west .  Very flat straight road.  It reminded me of Nebraska, but Ed assures me that the trees in the distance would never be here is we were in Nebraska. 

The Custer House at Fort Abraham Lincoln SP

We reach Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park seven miles south of  Marden, ND by mid afternoon.  It's a nice little campground that has electricity and water on site with nice hot showers.  We don't make it to too many campgrounds like this, so it's a treat, at least for me!

The Park is rich in both military and early Native American history.  Fort Abraham Lincoln was once an important infantry and cavalry post. It was from this fort that Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and the Seventh cavalry rode out on their ill-fated expedition against the Sioux at the Little Big Horn. Portions of the military post, including the Custer House, have been reconstructed.

The campground sits on the junction of the Heart and the Missouri Rivers so it's a good place to get soaked since the weather is in the 80's.

We are only here for one night, but it's a pleasant one.

Crow Wing State Park, Fort Ripley, MN

Friday June 29 till Sunday July 1, 2012

For all of our years of camping, Ed and I each used a plastic 4 drawer unit to hold our clothes for the 70-80 days we would be camping on the road.  It seemed reasonable.  We're gone for so long, I didn't want to live out of a suitcase. After all, at home, we each have a large dresser and half of an 8 ft closet to store all the things we wear.  But the drawers are really heavy and unwieldy.  I certainly can't carry my own so Ed had to carry both.

As the years went by, it didn't seem really reasonable and the more I thought about taking so much clothing with me, it really seemed ridiculous. This year I decided to streamline my wardrobe. After all...I am CAMPING!  I'm not bringing along a 4 drawer dresser.  I am bringing along 3 plastic buckets from Stop & Shop.  One has underwear and pj's, one has tops and one has shorts and long pants. Ed is still using his 4 drawer but if I'm successful this year, I bet he will follow along.  We decided to combine and
make 1 large plastic container with coats and sweatshirts, hats and mittens.  Those things that 'you never know when you will need them'.  We will leave them deep in the truck bed 'just in case'.

In the week we've been on the road, we have used some of the 'just in case' clothing since it's been a little cool.  Today, however, we arrive at Crow Wing State Park at mid afternoon to unbelievably hot temps---high 80's and even more humidity.  Our campground is right on the banks of a very fast moving Mississippi River.  The campsite is nice enough but the mosquitoes are outrageous!  We each douse ourselves with Deet which only partially works.  Ed took a walk with Monty.  Monty had 20 mosquitoes on his muzzle!  Poor thing!

We are staying here for 2 nights.  Traffic is unbelievable near here.  There are two rather built up towns nearby--Brainerd and Baxter.---it's like Hyannis in July!  Today is pretty hot however---100 degrees most of the day.  We're dying....I don't care what you say...dry heat or not...this is HOT!  Monty has been panting all day.  Ed took an early bike ride and I did laundry.  It was too hot the rest of the day to do anything!  It's too hot to cook, so we decided to drive around in the air conditioned car to see if we can find any outdoor dining.  There really isn't any.  And we can't see keeping Monty in the car while we eat....somewhat cruel...he's been panting all day.  We head back to the campground to get a traveling dinner...chips, dip, cheese and crackers.

Soon we are off to Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park in Manden, ND.

Heading to Bobcat Lake in Marenisco, Michigan

Thursday June 28, 2012

This is the earliest we have ever started to move from a campsite---7:30 am!

Monty decided to wake at 5:30 today.  Not that he needed to go out, but he was happy to snuggle 'with his pack' for awhile!

Weather was beautiful last night.  We were at Hog Island Point, near Naubinway, Michigan. Not too many bugs so it was very pleasant.  Sunny again today and we are traveling on Route 2...for the whole 6 or 7 hours!  It's a 2 lane road that's in good condition so it should be a pleasant ride.  Hopefully, we can find WiFi a little easier now that it feels like we are almost back to civilization again:)

I found a program that lets me download newspapers for free--New York Times, Boston Globe, USA Today among others--that we can read on our Kindles.  But I need WiFi to do it. It's called Calibre.  Try it!

We found a little breakfast place that looked nice and it had WiFi so we're all set for a bit.  You know it's a good breakfast place when you walk in and it's filled with a breakfast meeting for the local Harley Motorcycle club!

Nothing slows Ed down

Wednesday June 27, 2012

Ed has developed a case of sciatica.  If you've ever experienced it, you know that it really hurts!  Probably came about due to all the running around to get things ready before we left, then sitting in a car each day for long stretches.

Monty enjoying the ride!

We're trying ice and oxy!  The combination seems to make it more comfortable for him for awhile and by then, we're back behind the steering wheel again!

Monty has been a wonderful passenger!  While reluctant to climb into the truck, once he gets in, he snuggles right into his blanket and goes fast asleep.  We try not to wake him when we get out for our 'strtch your leg breaks' unless it's been too long for him, too. 

It's a nice surprise, however, since Buddy really seemed stressed by the driving.

Drive, Drive, Drive

Monday-Wednesday June 25-28, 2012

If you wonder why you haven't 'heard' from me in a few days, it's because we have traveled between 6 and 8 hours on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and there is no Internet much less time on line to compose a Blog.

The traffic is blissfully light (except for the crazies in the city of Toronto) We entered Canada with no issues and went to 2 of their Provincial Parks:  Six Mile Lake PP and Chutes PP.  Provincial Parks in Canada are probably comparable to our Federal Campgrounds--only nicer.

They don't have electricity but they do have very nice hot showers, bath rooms and laundry facilities.  It doesn't come without a cost however:  $37.25 a night! Probably the most we will spend per night anywhere on this trip!

I have to say, though, that this (as expected) is my least favorite part of the trip.  Driving for so long each day is not fun for either of us. And once we arrive at a site, we only take out the bare necessities since we have to pack it all up the next day.

I am eager to start the fun part of our vacation.  One where we stay put for at least a week, can empty out all the things we brought with us and set up 'home'

Great day on the Lake!

 Sunday June 24, 2012

Happy Birthday to our 'baby', Carrie!  Hope you have a wonderful day!

It was great to spend Sunday with Brooks, Barbie and their kids.  Brooksie, just graduated from High School the day before and has turned in to quite a  nice young man.  He's very excited about going to the University of Alabama in the fall.  Emily is a very pretty HS Sophomore. Pierce is 8 years old--going on 90--wise beyond his years.  We went for a boat ride on the lake and lunch at a nice waterfront restaurant.  Spent the rest of the day chatting and playing with the dogs.  Their dog Jake and Monty got along great!

View from the Lake House

We try to include Barbie & Brooks in our travels every year since we never get the chance to visit very often with Ed's youngest sister.  And you can't beat the view they have!